DAP welcomes second Finance
Minister’s assurance that Malaysia will not be bound by United States
Government’s FTA fast-track expiry timetable to conclude negotiations by
early 2007 and calls for Parliamentary Select Committee on FTAs to get
input of MPs and civil society

__________________________

Media Statement

by Lim Kit Siang__________________________

(Parliament,
Thursday) :
I welcome the assurance given by the second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor
Mohamed Yakcob that Malaysia will not be bound by the United States
Government’s Free Trade Association (FTA) fast-track expiry timetable to
conclude negotiations for the Malaysia-United States FTA by early 2007.

Nor Mohamed gave this
assurance during the winding-up on the Finance Ministry in the Ninth
Malaysia Plan debate in Parliament this morning, in response to my specific
query as to why Malaysia should be pressured to follow the United States’
fast-track expiry time-table to conclude negotiations by early 2007 for the
FTA to be signed and sealed before July next year.

In the exchange with Nor
Mohamed on FTAs, I had asked why no cost-benefit analysis had been done
before Malaysia entered into FTA negotiations with the United States and
other countries.

I pointed out that in April
last year, when during his visit to Australia, the Prime Minister, Datuk
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made the joint announcement with Australian Prime
Minister, John Howard that the two countries would begin negotiations for an
FTA, the Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile was able to immediately state
publicly that Australia’s economy could reap A$1.9 billion from a free trade
agreement with Malaysia.

This was what Vaile said on
the same day as the joint statement by the two Prime Ministers in April last
year: “An FTA with Malaysia will be another significant
step in opening access for Australian exporters regionally and will add to
the Coalition Government’s proud record of achievement in this area.”

I asked why other
governments could make cost-benefit analysis of what they could gain both
at the beginning and end of FTA negotiations while this is not the case
with Malaysia, as even now, the government has not been able to announce its
cost-benefit analysis for the Malaysia-Japan FTA which had been concluded.

In his reply, Nor
Mohamed said the Cabinet approval for FTA negotiations with the United
States was for the talks to begin and that the Cabinet would scrutinise the
outcome of the negotiations to ensure that Malaysia would benefit from the
Malaysia-United States FTA and that future generations would not be cursing
the FTA.

My rejoinder was
that there could not be much public confidence in the wisdom and judgement
of the Cabinet after its record involving the country in many disastrous
decisions and scandals –including the Agusta-Proton scandal and the recent
RM1.1 billion crooked half-bridge scandal.

However, I welcome
the second assurance given by Nor Mohamed on my proposal for the
establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on FTAs and his commitment
to raise the issue in the Cabinet.

This proposal
follows admission by the second Finance Minister that the Malaysian
negotiation team is overwhelmed by the US negotiating team, who would come
to the talks with 200 lawyers.

I hazarded that the
Malaysian team might only comprise half-a-dozen officers in the face of such
a battalion of US negotiators, with knowledge, experience and expertise
stacked in favour of the US.

As Malaysia is
outnumbered and overwhelmed in the FTA negotiations with the US, not only
in personnel, resources, experience and expertise, especially as FTA
cover many important subjects including new and very specialised ones,
whether industry, investment, services, agriculture, technology transfer,
intellectual property, biotechnology, I suggested the establishment of a
Parliamentary Select Committee on FTAs where MPs and the civil society could
give their inputs to help the government ensure fair and favourable terms
for Malaysia in the FTA.

I will be pursuing
this matter with Nor Mohamad in view of his commitment to get Cabinet
approval for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on FTAs.

As FTA negotiations
with the US will formally begin in Malaysia in June, such a FTAs
Parliamentary Select Committee should be formed before the end of the
current parliamentary meeting.